Three years ago…

“Seolhyun Kim?”

The Minister’s voice sounded like mocking. She clucked her tongue. “She is too small. Her arms are thin.” She bent over to study Seolhyun more closely, “and her eyes, they are the color of dirt, hardly remarkable. She barely has any blood of the Genuine in her. She is more Mortal than any we have seen this day.”

The crowd gathered and voiced their opinion.

Seolhyun looked at her mother, who stood beside her. Helena Kim was one of the Genuines, but she wasn’t anything like them. Her green eyes flashed a pleading look. The Naive Seolhyun didn’t know why her mom was so frightened.

The Minister’s eyes were the color of the sky before a storm; a mixture of purple and blue. All the Genuines had startling eye colors. Most of the Myx did too, but for some reason Seolhyun had missed the whole cool eye color when she’d been born.

The statements had continued on for what seemed like forever to her and all she could think about was ice cream, doughnuts, and maybe taking a nap.

Other Ministers had come down to check her over, whispering to each other as they circled her. Seolhyun kept glancing at her mother and she’d smile reassuringly, letting her daughter know that all of this was okay.

That was, until the old lady started pinching every part of Seolhyun’s exposed skin and then twice. She’d reached out and pinched her belly through her dress with her long fingers. “She has no meat on her. How can we expect her to fight and defend us? She is not worthy to train at the Ephensy and serve the children of the Gods.”

Seolhyun had never seen a God, but her mom told her there were always among them, always watching.

“She’s nothing more than a pathetic, little Myx,” the woman had continued. “Send her to the Masters. I’m in need of an army to clean the kitchen.”

Then she twisted her fingers.

And Seolhyun kicked her shin.

She’d never forget the look on her mother’s face, like she’d been caught between terror and full-blown panic, ready to run between them and snatch her daughter away. There were a few gasps of enrage, but there were also a few deep chuckles.

“She has fire,” one of the male Ministers had said.

Another stepped forward, “She will do fine as a Guard, maybe even a Linus.”

Seolhyun had no idea how she’d proved her worthiness after kicking the Minister in the leg.

Well, actually, random acts of stupidity were considered to be one of her talents…

***

… “See, you’re doing it again, Seolhyun.” Minho’s hand tightened around hers.

Seolhyun blinked slowly, bringing Minho’s face into focus. “Doing what?”

“You got this look on your face.” He snaking an arm around her shoulder. “It’s like you’re thinking about something universally deep. Like your mind is a thousand miles away, somewhere up in the clouds, on a different planet or something.”

Choi Minho was the pretty boy next door. He was Seolhyun’s current attempt to blend with the Mortals.

She smiled up at Minho. “I’m not thinking about anything.”

“You’re not thinking at all?” Minho lowered his head. The edges of his black hair tickled her cheeks.

Something was going on in her head, but it wasn’t what Minho hoped for. As she stared into his eyes, she thought about her very first crush– the forbidden, older girl with thundercloud eyes, the one so far out of her league.

Even now, Seolhyun wanted to kick herself in the face. She was like a walking romance book character, thinking love would conquer everything and all that crap.

Or a hopeless romantic one.

“Seolhyun?”

“Well, maybe something–,“ her eyes snapped open. “Minho!”

“What?” Minho lifted his head. “What’s wrong?”

Seolhyun stepped back. “We have company.”

Minho glanced over his shoulder at the two guys. “Great. It’s Dumb and Dumber.”

Even in the pale moonlight Seolhyun could tell their skin was pale. Their overly broad smiles were super white. Dumb whispered something to Dumber and they fist bumped each other.

“Hey!” Dumber called out. “What’s up, Minho, my man?”

Minho shoved his hands in the pockets. “Nothing much, you?”

“We’re just chillin’. Gonna head out to the party later.” Dumb looked at Seolhyun for the first time, his eyes drifting over her dress and down her legs.

Minho was watching the two guys closely. A muscle popped along his jaw.

Dumb, still staring at Seolhyun’s legs, made a sound that was so gross. “Yow, girl. Is your daddy a thief?”

“What?” Seolhyun had never actually met her dad. All she knew was that he’d been a Mortal. Hopefully, he’d been nothing like these two s.

“Well, then who stole those stars in the sky and put them in your eyes?”

“Wow.” She blinked and turned to Minho. “Why don’t you ever say such romantic stuff like that to me? I’m hurt.”

Minho didn’t grin like she expected. His gaze kept bouncing between the two, and Seolhyun could see his hands balling into fists inside his pockets. He was… scared?

She reached for Minho’s arm. “Come on, let’s head back.”

“Wait.” Dumber clapped Minho on the shoulder with enough force to cause him to stumble backward a few inches. “Kind of rude of you guys to just leave.”

A rush of warm air crawled up Seolhyun’s spine and spread over her skin. Her muscles tensed with anticipation. “Don’t touch him,” she warned softly.

Out of surprise, Dumb dropped his hand and stared at her, then he smiled. “She’s a bossy one.”

“Seolhyun,” Minho hissed, staring at her with wide eyes. “It’s okay. Don’t make a big deal out of it.”

Dumber laughed. “Why don’t we go party? We all can have a good time.” Then he grabbed for Seolhyun.

Dumber may have meant to do it playfully, but it was seriously the wrong move. Seolhyun caught his arm. “By the way, was your mom a gardener?” she asked innocently.

“What?” Dumber’s mouth hung open slightly.

“Ah, because a face like yours belongs planted on the ground.” Seolhyun twisted his arm back. Shock flickered over his features. There was a second when their gazes locked, and she could tell he was in terror.

It had been three years since she’d seriously fought anyone, but unused muscles geared up and her brain sort of clicked off. She dipped under the arm she held, bringing it along with her as she clipped his knee with her foot.

The next second Dumber ate sand.

Staring down at the guy sprawled in the sand, Seolhyun realized she kind of missed fighting, especially the rush of adrenaline and the feeling that came along with taking someone down. But then again, fighting Mortals was nothing like fighting her own kind or the things she’d once trained to kill.

“Jesus,” Minho whispered, jumping back.

Seolhyun looked up, expecting to see a shock and awe kind of look from him. Maybe two thumbs up? Nothing, she got nothing from him. At the Ephensy, she would’ve been applauded. But she kept forgetting she wasn’t at the Ephensy anymore.

Dumb’s gaze swung from his buddy to Seolhyun and quickly turned to rage. He rushed her. But he hadn’t been trained to fight from the age of seven and he didn’t have God-given strength and speed.

He swung a fist toward her face and Seolhyun spun around, kicking out and planting her foot in his stomach. She stepped into him, grabbing his upper arms and yanking him down as she brought her leg up. His jaw bounced off Seolhyun’s knee and she let go, watching him fall into the sand with a grunt.

“Hitting girls isn’t nice.” Seolhyun turned around, using his body weight to knock him off balance. He went over her shoulder, but face first into the sand once more.

Dumber climbed to his feet and staggered to his fallen friend. “Come on, bud. Get up.”

“Need help?” Seolhyun offered with a sweet smile.

Both guys scrambled down the beach, looking over their shoulders like they expected her to jump on their backs. Seolhyun watched them until they disappeared around the cove, smiling to herself.

She turned back to Minho, wind blowing her hair. She felt alive for the first time in… well, years. She could still kick . After all this time, she could still do it. Her excitement and confidence dried up the moment she got a good look at Minho’s face.

He looked horrified. “How…?” He cleared his throat. “Why did you do that?”

“Why?” Seolhyun repeated, confused. “It seems pretty clear to me. Those guys are douches.”

“Yes, everyone knows that, but you didn’t have to lay the WWE Show on them.” Minho stared at Seolhyun, eyes wide. “I just… I just can’t believe you did that.”

“They were bothering you!” She planted her hands on the hips, didn’t care about the wind smacking her hair in her face. “Why are you acting like I’m some kind of freak?”

“All they did is touch me, Seolhyun.”

That was enough reason for her, but apparently, not enough for Minho. “Dumber grabbed at me. I’m sorry. I’m not so tolerating that.”

Minho just stared at her.

Seolhyun bit back the set of curse words that were forming in . “Okay. Maybe I shouldn’t have done all that. Can we just forget about it?”

“No.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “That was too weird for me. Sorry Seolhyun, but that was just… freaky.”

Her anger started to thin. “Oh, so next time you want me to stand here and let them kick your and grab mine?”

“You overreacted! God, there won’t be a next time. I’m not down with violence.” Minho shook his head and turned away from Seolhyun, leaving her standing all alone.

“What the hell?” Seolhyun muttered and then louder, “Whatever! Go save a kitten from the tree or something!”

Minho, humans, just didn’t understand.

Violence was a part of who she was as a Myx, spread in her blood since birth and trained into every muscle in her body. It didn’t mean she was going to snap and body slamming someone for no reason, but she would fight back.

Always.

***

Dampness settled in the air, the sky overhead quickly darkening until no stars shone down. Seolhyun crossed the narrow street and kicked open the gate to their house. She stopped in front of the door, looking up as she searched her purse for the key.

“Crap,” she muttered as her eyes roamed over the little garden balcony. Flowers grew like crazy, overflowing their ceramic pots. Well, she was supposed to have cleaned up the balcony this afternoon.

Her mom was going to be pissed for a lot of reasons in the morning.

Sighing, she pulled out the key and shoved it in the lock. She had the door halfway open, thankfully it hadn’t creaked and groaned like everything else in the old house did, when she felt the most unfamiliar sensation.

Icy fingers ran up her spine, and then down. All the tiny hairs on her body stood up as the eerie sense of being watched came over her.

Seolhyun quickly turned, her gaze darting over the little yard and beyond. The streets were empty, but the feeling only increased. Unease gnawed at her stomach as she stepped back and reached behind her, wrapping her fingers around the edge of the door.

Nobody was there, but…

“I’m losing my mind,” she muttered. “I’m getting as paranoid as Mom. Nice.”

She went inside, locking the door behind her. The uncanny feeling slowly eased off as she tiptoed through the silent house. She the lamp beside the cabinet, and squinted into the corner of the room.

Sitting beside their TV and the magazine rack, was Apollo. A fresh scent wrapped around the marble cast of his head. Of all the things her mom had forgotten to pack the many times they moved to different cities, she never forgotten him.

Seolhyun had nothing against Apollo. She guessed he was a pretty cool God since he was all about harmony and order. It was just the annoying, buzzing insects that got stuck in the statue’s head. She’d never understood her mom’s fascination with Apollo or with any of the Gods for that matter, by the way.

Soft light spilled out from the gap between her mom’s bedroom door and the floor. Stopping in front of her door, Seolhyun glanced at her room and then down at the shoes. She bit her lower lip. Her mom probably already knew she’d snuck out earlier and–

“Honey?” The soft and sweet voice called from behind the door. “What are you doing?”

Seolhyun nudged open the door and peeked inside. Her mom sat at the head of the bed, reading one of Seolhyun’s favorite books with two badass girls on the cover. Beside her on the small bedside table was a pot of ambrosia flowers. They were her favorite. The pink and purple petals were beautiful.

Oh, not to mention, the carton of rich chocolate fudge ice cream on her laps with a large spoon. Not even bothering a bowl.

She looked up, a slight smile on her face. “Hi, welcome home.”

Seolhyun held up one of her sleeves, cringing. “At least I’m home before midnight.”

“Is that supposed to make me honey-ing you?” Helena pinned her daughter with a look, her eyes glittering in the dim light.